Dr di Angelo will see you now
by spike.writes
Summary: Percy has been sent to a psychiatrist's by the police after a drunken run-in with a hippocampus in the Hudson River. He soon discovers a feeling for Dr di Angelo that one would not normally associate with a psychiatrist . . . ***ABANDONED BUT STILL READABLE***
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys, I hope you enjoy the fic. It's my first for this fandom, so please don't expect too much. :-)

* * *

Percy Jackson shifted nervously in his seat in the psychiatrist's waiting room. He had been recommended this establishment after he had been taken to the police station last Saturday night after a slightly drunk night out, claiming that a hippocampus had been swimming around in the Hudson River. Percy knew that it was true, because he had spoken to the creature - and what's more, _it had spoken back_. But nobody had believed him, even when he'd offered to take the nice police lady to see it. He realised now that the police officer was probably refusing out of principle and experience with drunks. Oh well, he concluded, he was here now and he just had to stay out of sight of water for the half-hour psychiatrist's appointment, so he could give the impression of a perfectly normal twenty-nine year old guy.

Mind you, he didn't really need to be a _perfectly_ normal guy. Percy had talked to his bisexual flatmate Leo about Dr di Angelo, who had had appointments with him before. In Leo's own words, the doctor was 'one damn fine guy'. From what Percy had heard in the gay bars of New York City, Dr di Angelo had an attractive mop of shaggy black hair, melancholy dark brown eyes and smooth olive skin. So, by all accounts, Percy's perfect man. But Percy felt that trying to start a relationship in a psychiatrists office would be the wrong move to make, so he decided to play it cool.

"Mr Winchester?" The attractive brunette receptionist poked her head around the door of the waiting room, smiling at a very tall, tired-looking man with long brown hair. "Hello, Sam, Dr Novak is ready to see you now." Percy wrapped his hands around the arms of the chair and stiffened in his seat, knowing that he would soon be in a room with 'a gay guy's dream' (according to Leo). The twist was that nobody had yet identified the doctor's sexuality, so Percy was planning to be more reserved than normal when getting the lowdown on his doctor.

"Mr Jackson? Dr di Angelo will see you now." The receptionist click-clacked briskly down the corridor with Percy trailing nervously behind her. The woman stopped at a solid oak door and pressed the intercom. "Sound-proof," she said in a reassuring tone to the young man in front of her. "So if the situation gets really bad, the whole place won't know about it!" The intercom crackled and the brunette opened the door. Percy took one look at the man waiting inside and knew instantly that this was either going to be the worst or the best half-hour of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the views - I hope you enjoy this chapter :-)

Percy walked into the room as if on auto-pilot and sank down on the nearest chair. Nothing Leo could have said would have prepared him for the almost perfect physical specimen that stood in front of him. Di Angelo's eyelashes curved gracefully around his brooding brown eyes, set under delicately arched eyebrows that would have looked unnatural on pretty much anybody else. The doctor's hair, far from messy, was artfully groomed so it looked as if he had just rolled out of bed. His cheekbones were prominent in the olive-skinned face, lending enough definition to the otherwise plain face without sticking out too much. Dr di Angelo's mouth - oh, his mouth - was shaped like a cupid's bow and was just the shade of pink that Percy liked it.

Percy shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now was _not _the time to be thinking about how kissable his psychiatrist's lips were. To distract himself, Percy began to tug rhythmically on his sandy-blond hair whilst rocking back and forth on the armchair. Dr di Angelo cleared his throat. Percy jerked his head up in alarm, as if oblivious to the doctor's presence. After an awkward pause, di Angelo said,

"Now, Mr Jackson, how are you?"

Percy was taken aback at the non-psychiatric question. How _was_ he? Nobody had bothered to ask him that question, ever since his mother had been taken away and he had been put in a care home. He didn't really know, so he decided honesty was the best policy.

"I don't know," he said, nervously tapping his feet. "I . . . Nobody asked me that . . . s-s-since . . . since my mom . . . went." He finished his sentence with a strange feeling of accomplishment. It was almost the first time Percy had admitted that his mother was _gone_ since it had happened and that he had said 'gone' instead of 'left'. The latter gave the impression that his mom had vanished by choice, and dumped her only kid in a care home. But that wasn't true. Not at all. She had simply disappeared while Percy was at school. At first, he didn't mind. Nobody to boss him around and stop him eating all the junk he wanted to! After a few days, he got scared. Mom had never stayed out for more than one night without telling him so. He called the police, who put his mom on some missing persons list somewhere and shoved him into a care home.

"Okay, Percy. H-how did you feel about this?" Dr di Angelo seemed almost as uncomfortable discussing the topic as his patient did. Percy hunched over, picking at a loose thread on his battered jeans. It was as if he was eleven again, hiding behind the chair in the home counsellor's office. All the worry and fear bubbled up to the surface again and Percy felt as vulnerable as resentful as he had on that day, eighteen years ago.

"I'm angry. Why did she just take off and leave me like that? Mom wouldn't do something like that. I know she wouldn't. When I came home from school and told her about Jason's dad clearing off and ditching him in the home, she told me that she wouldn't do that, _whatever happened. _Andthen she left. Just like that. I don't understand. What could have made her do something like that? It's not possible that she wanted to. She loved me. Jesus, Dr di Angelo, she _loved_ me." At this, Percy let out a heart-wrenching howl and slumped to the floor, back against the psychiatrist's chair.

Dr di Angelo crossed the space between them and crouched down next to Percy. Gently, he laid a hand on Percy's back, silencing the muffled sobs that he had been making.

"It's okay, Percy. I'm going to try and make you feel better about this. It is my job, after all."


	3. Chapter 3

Percy raised his head so he was looking directly at the doctor. Their heads were barely twenty centimetres apart, and his hand was resting lightly on Percy's shoulder. Percy felt that this was probably against patient privacy regulations in some booklet or another, but right at this moment, he couldn't care less. He was squished against one of the hottest guys in New York City, and he was loving it. He imagined their breath mingling and di Angelo shifting his hand to the back of his head, leaning in and . . .

"So, Mr Jackson . . . Percy. What things make you happy?" The doctor should sound more awkward when he was pushing his body up to a man that he had never met until five minutes ago.

"Oh. My. Gods. You're not going all 'Sound of Music' on me, are you?" Percy flushed at admitting that he still liked that crummy old musical from years ago.

"You mean 'I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel . . .'" The doctor had a rich, deep bass voice, and clearly couldn't care less that he was singing right in his client's face. He gestured to Percy to join him in singing the grand finale of the song, and he shifted nervously on the floor. Dragging up his courage, Percy sang the last words of the song with the doctor:

"SO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" They both giggled - if giggled was the right word to describe a pair of fully grown men - and Percy sat back on his chair again. He had to admit, it was much nicer to be on a chair laughing than on the floor and close to crying. Also, it was a lot nicer having broken that barrier of awkwardness that had been dividing them. Now Percy felt as if he could tell di Angelo anything.

"I like . . . blue food." He grimaced as the doctor stifled a laugh. "My mom always made blue cake for my birthday, and I still have it every year. It feels like the only thing that connects us at the moment." Dr di Angelo put on his serious work face and said,

"I don't want you calling me Dr di Angelo any more." The mask cracked, revealing the more youthful, carefree face hidden behind. Percy pulled a face in confusion. What did he mean? "We've duetted together, and I think that breaks pretty much all the rules in the psychiatrist's handbook, so I am going to break another and ask you to call me Nico." He looked worried for a moment. His dark eyebrows pulled together in concern. "That is, if you would like to?"

Percy tried it out.

"Nico."

It seemed to suit the doctor in some strange way, like white and dark chocolate. Both lovely on their own, but enhanced by the other. Percy liked the feel of it on his tongue, rolling it around his mouth. Yes, he thought, Nico di Angelo suited his name.

"Erm . . . you can call me Percy." The doctor looked momentarily baffled.

"I thought your name was Perseus?" Percy blushed. "Like the Greek hero?"

"Yeah, but I prefer Percy. My mom had this weird thing about the Greeks. I guess she thought their gods were real or something. Once, when she was drunk, she said that Poseidon was my father. I know it's not true, but it's still pretty odd."

Nico nodded slowly in agreement.

"I noticed that earlier you said 'Oh my _gods' _instead of 'Oh my _God_'. Why did you say that?"

"I don't know. I've just always done it." Percy crinkled up his nose in an attempt to concentrate. He still couldn't get over the fact that he and Dr Sexy were now on first name terms.

"Me too." Nico said thoughtfully. "There might be some connection . . . "


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the wait - school is trying to throw me into Tartarus with the weight of my homework dragging me down. ;-)

* * *

"So." Nico said decisively. "You say you have recently had a conversation with a - and I quote - 'lovely hippocampus called Rainbow in the Hudson'. Why did you say that?"

"Because it's true!" The words flew out of Percy's mouth, along with all hopes of appearing normal to the psychiatrist. "She knew about my brother, Tyson."

Dr di Angelo seemed momentarily confused. "Your brother? Your records show that you are an only child. How can you have a brother?"

Percy sighed. Yet more of his street cred was being ground to a powder on the floor, but he strangely found he didn't mind. At least by telling the truth he knew that he wouldn't have to lie to one more person. A small, but significant, consolation, he supposed.

"Tyson is my half-brother. It's strange, because sometimes when I look at him, I think he only has one eye, instead of two. But then it separates, like a cell dividing in two. I think I must be going mad." Nico should have looked horrified that his new client was seeing things, but he seemed inwardly pleased.

"Yes!" He muttered to himself, in a creepy, slightly Dr Frankenstein-like way. "This could be the final proof!" Percy tilted his head to one side in confusion.  
"The final proof? Of what?" Nico opened a drawer in his desk with a manner not unlike that seen in a psychiatrist drama on TV.

"The final proof of what I have believed had existed since I was a child - that the Greek gods and all their myths are true. You say _gods, _not _God_. You talk to hippocampi - mythical sea creatures - in the Hudson. Your mother said Poseidon was your father. It all makes sense." Nico sat back in his chair triumphantly, with the air of one who has just been told he has won the most important battle in history.

"And? What's **your **evidence?" Percy refused to accept this wacky proposition until Nico had revealed his experiences with the gods.  
"My mother, father, sister and I were in our hotel room a long time ago when there was an explosion. My father - who I have not seen since - threw a black protective wall around Bianca and I from where he was sitting on the couch. He didn't have time to save my mother. She died instantly." Nico's eyes were sparkling with tears, which made Percy feel guilty for probing into his past like that. However, Nico seemed determined to finish his tale. "After that, we were put into a series of children's homes. From the age of about twelve, I started seeing things. Skeletons and monsters - one of my teachers turned out to be a manticore. Then Bianca died, when we were driving through the desert. I think something mythical took her."

Nico sniffled slightly, but recovered his composure just as the assistant poked her head around the door.  
"Same time next week, Mr Jackson?" He said with a highly professional air for someone who had just been crying about his dead sister.  
"Of course, Dr di Angelo." And with a slight hint of a smirk, Percy left the psychiatrist's office.


	5. Chapter 5

Wow. I read BoO last night and the feels are killing me. But I will resist the Underworld at least until I have finished this fic. :-D Given the ending of BoO, I have decided to put in a plot twist in this fic which will definitely feel like a plot twist because I didn't originally plan it. So sorry about that. x-)

* * *

*** one week has passed ***

"Mr Jackson? Dr di Angelo is ready for you now." Percy followed yet another perky brunette receptionist - did they clone them or something? - down the hallway to Nico's office. "In you go!" She closed the door after Percy and click-clacked back to the waiting room. Percy grinned at Nico with a knowing look on his face and shook his hand. Nico's hair had grown since his last visit, so it now looked even more like a mop than before. Percy couldn't stop himself from thinking about how adorable it looked, even on a guy several years older than him. Heck, it made his cheekbones stand out even more than they already were - which was an obvious plus in any situation.

"Hi, Nico. How're you doing?" Percy noticed a slight tenseness in his psychiatrist, but dismissed it as lack of sleep. Di Angelo had more pronounced shadows under his eyes than before, which definitely supported the theory.  
"I'm doing okay, thanks. How're you?" Percy licked his lips nervously when he remembered the last time the doctor had said that to him.  
"I am doing just fine, thank you very much." Just to verify the fact, Percy flashed a wide grin at the psychiatrist, and was gratified when he received one in return.

"So, Percy. Do you remember our discussion about the gods last week?" Nico's eyes misted over as he thought about Bianca. Gods, she was so young. Fifteen was too young to die. Too young to leave your kid brother alone in the desert . . .  
He was jolted out of his reverie when Percy said,  
"Yes. Yes, I do. But . . . " He hesitated. "If the gods _are _real, what good will that knowledge do us? How will it improve anything, apart from your suspicion of being right for all this time?"

Nico cocked his head to the side and thought for a few seconds. Then he pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and turned the computer screen to face Percy. _Demigod Information Centre, Long Island_. Percy's dyslexia was acting up, and he wasn't entirely sure what a 'demigod' was anyway. Whatever it was, it sounded cool. Anybody want to be a baby god? Because Percy did. Imagine the awesome powers you could get . . .

"So, umm . . . _Demigod Information_ _Centre_?" Percy blinked in surprise at Nico's rumbling chuckle. "What's so funny?" He said defensively.  
"That's written in Greek, Percy. It shows how your brain is wired for Greek, which is more proof that your father was a Greek god. I wrote the advert in the paper in Greek, so only demigods can see what it means. It will help us group together and share our knowledge, and possibly meet with our godly parents in time. They are more likely to take us seriously if there are more of us."

"Okay, makes sense." Percy nodded in agreement. "But how do you know who your godly parent is?" Nico let out another chuckle and said,  
"I grew up seeing skeletons, Percy. If I try hard enough, I can raise the dead." Nico's eyes softened as Percy inched away from him. "It's nothing to worry about. I'm not likely to set some on you! But yes, that's how I know who my father is. Hades, Lord of the Dead." Percy relaxed again.  
"So I got Poseidon, right? With my mom saying all that crazy stuff when I was a kid, and the hippocampus, and the water control?" Nico sat up abruptly.  
"Water control? How?"  
"I don't know - it just kind of happens!"  
"Show me." There was a sinister, controlling undertone in Nico's velvet voice, but Percy chose to overlook it.

Percy grabbed a cup of water from the water dispenser and willed it to rise. It flew up into the air as a sphere, formed a series of shapes reading ' O' . . . and quickly sloshed back into the cup.

"What. The. Actual. Hell." Nico frowned at Percy. "Why did it say that?"

"Erm . . . well . . . " Percy stammered.

"Tell me."


	6. Chapter 6

Percy dropped his eyes.

"I guess . . . that's because . . . "

Nico tapped his foot sarcastically.

"Because . . . I love you."

The doctor let out an embarrassed laugh and colour flooded to his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Percy, but . . . I'm already going out with someone."

He drew a sharp breath and continued.

"His name's Will."

* * *

Hi everybody,

I've decided to scrap this story now because it's going nowhere, and I really want to start another fic.  
I'm not going anywhere, but this time I'm going to prewrite the entire story before I post anything, so it makes more sense.

Sorry if you've just ploughed through the fic to get to this, but it is really hard to continue.

Consider that last sentence a cliffhanger!

Peace out,  
Spike


End file.
